Join the Conspiracy
Labels: Advent, Consumerism, Giving, Incarnational living
posted by Forrest @ 8:03 PM
10 Comments
Medicine of Immortality
The earliest Christians called the Eucharist "the medicine of immortality." This blog is devoted to reflection on living sacramentally in Spokane. Because sacramental living is socio-theological living, we hope you will help us develop our theology through the society of this blog.
10 Comments:
Hmm... Maybe you should post more often. (In reply to the post on Claudio and Hero).
Thanks for your comment anonymous...it helps to know people are actually reading this :-)
On the one hand, Christmas is a festival. We should be celebrating. We should be joyous, and we should be drawing others into the spirit of joyful giving.
I find it's called an "Advent Conspiracy" since this is really about how we celebrate Christmas (which Americans generally do in Advent).
We need to keep the spirit of Advent, but also the spirit of Christmas. Obviously, by treating Advent like Advent, you will avoid much of the consumerism. If we celebrate Christmas at the right time, it's much easier to celebrate it without the consumerism because the rest of America is over it.
I guess my question is how we should start, practically. I mean, starting with us. The first step is treating Advent like Advent. Less spending, less shopping, more worship. That's right on track.
But how do we treat Christmas like Christmas? Feasting is important. And that does take money. I think gifts are important, but they don't have to take much money. With our families growing, obviously, we have spent more money on them. I'd venture to say 95% of what we spend at Christmas stays within our family. So how do we drop consumers, but keep giving? What are some practical guidelines and viewpoints we can set down in our family? Guidelines we can stick to.
But if you feast for 12 days what does that feasting look like? If you have twelve feasts instead of one the feasts could be smaller than the traditional Christmas Dinner. I think feasting has a sense of making a meal special in presentation (candles, tablecloth and etc.) and guests as much if not more than quantity.
We are thinking of stretching out gifts over the twelve days as well.
If you celebrate for twelve days it makes family obligations easier also!
I'm not sure the idea is to spread out the feasting as much as to feast continually. Can you really hold back much and still call it a feast? I don't think it really lessens the family "obligations." If anything, we should be spending much more time with those we love. Or did you mean that in reference to gifts (I was applying it to time).
I agree that quality is more important than quantity, but quality also applies to food. Nicer meals tend to be a bit more costly.
I was using obligation in a non-burdensome way, meaning if you have different sides that want to get together and one time doesn't work for all it would work better.
Here's what our family does for Advent and the 12 Days. Now, granted, as clergy, we are quite busy during the time, but we work hard to curtail that as much as possible.
Advent is marked at our house by the Advent wreath, extended nightly devotions with an Advent-themed devotional book, or a particular writer we've been wanting to explore, or a focus on a book of Scripture. One year, we read the whole of Isaiah together. We pay special attention to the Advent wreath--it's given a decorated place of honor on the table. We also purchase the Steve Erspamer Advent Calendar from Liturgy Training Publications. It goes from St. Andrew' Day all the way to the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. While it follows the Roman Catholic calendar, it pays attention to the all the Advent saints and the artwork on it is beautiful--it's mean to be lit from the inside. Also, we put up a few Advent-spefici decorations--window candles in our four big front windows. One of them is lit each week. Blue bows that get changed to white in Christmas Eve--things like that. I have a wreath I made many years ahgo that is plain greenery with a ribbon that says "Veni Emmanuel" woven through it.
We also intentionally look for Advent things to do in the community--Lessons and Carols, Advent hanging of the Greens, noon recital of Advent organ music. You have to look hard to find these, but they are out there.
In addition, there is no need for all the frazzle of baking and preparing--most of my baking is done during the 12 Days, so we have the leisure to enjoy the preparation of each treat. Christmas cards go out during the 12 Days, too, or at the very end of Advent. So people think you're late. Who cares?
We also observe some of the Advent saints' days--St. Andrew, St. Nicholas, Santa Lucia and all the food customs that go along with them. Pari Beth also puts her shoes outside her door on the eve of Dec. 26, for St. Nicholas to fill. We often give a major gift on this day, too, to take away the emphasis on Christmas Day.
Sundays in Advent are marked by midday meals at home that are bracketed with an extended litany and the singing of Advent hymns--Advent hymnody actually plays a large part in our Advent observance.
We are purists, in the sense that we do not decorate the house or begin listening to Christmas music until a day or two before Christmas eve.
Christmas is celebrated with tremendous festivity at the Bailey house. We begin with the quiet religiousness of Christmas Eve, and the lighting of the lumniarias welcoming the Christchild. Earlier on Christmas Eve we will have placed the Bambino in the manger and knelt for prayers around the creche.
Christmas Day, after worship, we feast and then open presents, sipping champagne.
Then, we rigorously observe the 12 Days, putting aside as much secular duties and church/home work as possible to enjoy the time. Each day is begun with a full morning prayer at home. December 26th is St. Stephen's Day--we'll sometimes do some of the traditional food customs on this day, and often will take a gift of food/presents to the poor or shut-ins. December 27th is St. John--a day for discussion of "love" and the drinking of the love-cup. December 28th is the Holy Innocents--oatmeal with strawberry sauce can make a big impact on kids, representing the babies' food and also their blood. On this day, we pray especially for the unborn, for the repeal of Roe v. Wade, for all holy innocents that are slaughtered around the world. We also always sing the Coventry Carol together.
The rest of the 12 Days pass in Christmas baking, hosting parties for the church council, drinking tea by the fire. New Year's Eve is spent in mirth, and then Holy Name Day is observed with the proper hymns and readings.
January 5th is Twelfth Night (or January 6th, depending on your read). We always invite friends and we bless the house again for the year, chalk the door with the traditional inscription (20+C+M+B+09), light a bunch of candles for the Festival of Light and have Kings' Cake (I use various recipes, some more traditional, some less). There is always something hidden in the cake--whoever finds it is crowned "King" of the Day. We also save one or two major presents to give on this day.
We try to have our Christmas decorations down by the Baptism of Our Lord. It's traditional to have them down the 6th, but that never works for us.
You wonder when we shop? Usually it's one Saturday. The last two years, our family has sponsored another area family as part of the "Secret Santa" county program. That has been the most fun of all--shopping for items for them, and also for their Christmas dinner.
You will, I promise, be out of step with the world and most of the Church. I continue to advocate these things (at least some of them) for my parish, but they look at me as if have sprouted another head. It's too bad, because they miss the richness, the absolutely joy to be savored during the 12 Days when you give Advent its due.
Keeping the Feast is not just about food--it's about the attitude that "these days are holy" and "we are holy." Even if you have to work, even if you do not feast in the traditional sense every day...a special set of prayers and a cup of red wine on St. John's Day goes a long way toward sanctifying the time both outwardly and inwardly. After all, this is God does for us--sends his Word, made flesh, incarnate, to break into our time and hallow it, according to his will.
More Bailey house customes--moving Mary and Joseph through the house to the creche in the few days before Christmas. During the 12 Days, the Kings move through the house as well. Each night, we'll go to where they are, get them, and singing the chorus of "We Three Kings", we'll move them to the next room--we let Pari Beth choose the route through the house, which is sometimes quite creative and circuitous!
Also, we unabashedly borrow customs from cultures not ours--there are lots of Swedes around here, so Santa Lucia (Dec. 13) is observed with strong Swedish coffee, pepparkakor and saffron Lussi buns. While Pari Beth is not old enough to go through the darkened house by herself, serving the coffee, we do it and expect that she'll take that on one day.Sometimes, local churches will even have a Lucia service on the day.
December 8--our Hispanic neighbors get a nod when we put on fiesta music and cook quesadillas or tamales for Nuestra Senora de Guadelupe. I have always wanted to be involved in a Las Posadas, but have never had the opportunity, though I hear a local Hispanic Lutheran congregation is doing one this year.
Forrest and Rick--
A "Fling Wide the Doors" Advent and Christmastime calendar will be making its way to each of you courtesy of Uncle Trevor and me. They should arrive by November 30th.
AP
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